The Warble by Victoria Simcox- Giveaway, Book excerpt and Review

Summary: "Twelve-year-old Kristina
Kingsly feels like the most unpopular girl in her school. The kids all
tease her, and she never seems to fit in. But when Kristina receives an
unusual Christmas gift, she suddenly finds herself magically transported
to the land of Bernovem, home of dwarfs, gnomes, fairies, talking
animals and the evil Queen Sentiz. In Bernovem, Kristina not only fits
in, she's honored as "the chosen one," the only one who can release the
land from Queen Sentiz's control. But it's not as simple as it seems. To
save Bernovem, she must place the gift she was given, the famous "Magic
Warble," in its final resting place. She must travel through the deep
forest, climb a treacherous mountain, and risk capture by the queen's
"zelbocks" before she reaches her destination. Guided by her new fairy
friends, Clover and Looper and by Prince Werrien, a teenage boy, and an
assortment of other characters, Kristina sets off on a perilous journey
that not only tests her strength but her heart."

Book excerpt- Chapter
18, Off to Treachery
Island

The trio continued on their
journey along the cliffs and bluffs,

heading eastward until they
could see the small cottage that Looper

had mentioned. Near it, a gnome
man and woman were working

with hoes in a vegetable garden.
When they caught sight of Kristina

riding Taysha, they put down
their hoes. Then the man picked up

a basket, and the woman and he
both ran toward them.

“I think they want to give us
something,” Taysha said to

Kristina.

“Should we trust them?” Kristina
asked.

“My instinct tells me they are
friendly,” Taysha answered. She

trotted toward the gnome couple.

“Do not worry; we are
believers,” the gnome woman said with

labored breath.

“Please accept this gift from
us,” the gnome man said, holding

out the basket full of fresh
vegetables and fruit.

“How do you know us?” Kristina
asked.

“Word is getting around among
the believers,” the gnome man

said.

“Thank you for the food. It
comes at a perfect time, for our

supply is getting low,” Kristina
said.

The gnome woman took Kristina’s
hand in hers and said, “Bless

you, child, for you are the one
chosen to restore Bernovem.”

Kristina felt a lump in her
throat after hearing these words.

Then the gnome woman kissed her
hand, and they said good-bye.

As Kristina rode away, the
couple shouted after them, “Long live

Queen Lafinia!”

My Review: This book turned out to be more fun than expected. When I got this
book, I was thinking it would simply be a pre-teen/young teen book that
my niece could enjoy. What I didn't expect is how much I enjoyed it!

The
book starts off in current time with Kristina leaving school when her
teacher gives her a hat box. That night, she hears a strange noise and
soon finds herself in another world, not her own! A world filled with
fairies, gnomes, dwarves and a wicked queen! She is told that she must
save the land from the false queen and break the curse that has dwelled
over the land. Lucky for her she is not alone. She has her pet rat,
Raymond with her. And in this new land he can now talk!So the
journey begins. Along the way she meets up with Prince Werrien, Clover,
the raven Roage (a character I easily came to love), and more. Yet she
is not the only one to enter this strange world. Two of her
classmates (and school bullies) and her nasty baby-sitter also find
themselves in this new place. Yet Kristina does not realize they too
are there so these three become easy targets for the queen.

This
leads to my favorite line in the book when the Queen and her son learn
of the humans arrival. "They're popping up like a bad skin rash" I
couldn't help but laugh at that. The son, Ramon, just seems so
flabbergasted at the idea of humans. So the chessboard is set
and the pieces move. Yet they refuse to follow the rules! So many
characters switch sides, good to bad and bad to good. You never know
who to trust. I loved this as a reader. It really keeps you guessing.

The
evil queen reminded me strongly of the Queen from 'The Lion the Witch
and the Wardrobe.' Especially when her servant is trying to row her
across the water, and a storm kicks up he is stuck rushing to keep water
out of the boat while she just sits there. Really?! So then she
became the Lazy, evil queen.

Overall, very nicely done. Easy
enough for an older child (say age 9-10) to read, but with enough plot
and context for teenagers and even adults with an inner child yearning
for those magical days once again.

I won this book in a raffle giveaway. This is a fair and honest review.

About the Author-Victoria Simcox

Victoria
was born in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada,
to an Austrian immigrant mother, and a Dutch immigrant father. She now lives in
Western Washington with her husband, Russ and
their three children, Toby, Kristina, and William. Her other family members are
a Chihuahua,
named Pipsy and two cats, named Frodo and Fritz. Besides being an author, Victoria is a home-schooling
mother of twelve years and an elementary school art teacher of eleven years. In
her spare time, Victoria
enjoys managing her two older children's Celtic band. She also loves writing,
reading, painting watercolors, hiking, good movies, and just simply hanging out
with her family and friends.

THE GIVEAWAY!!!

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